The invention relates to measuring the total times elapsed during a computer print job.
Conventional printers are typically rated by their maximum throughput. Many laser printers used in homes and offices, for example, have engines rated at eight pages per minute (ppm). Such a rating indicates that the printer can output a maximum of eight pages in a minute.
An engine rating, does not, however, typically reflect the `click to clunk` time: the total amount of time the user must wait from the time a print job is requested (by, e.g., selecting "OK" in a print dialog box) until the time that the printer prints the last page of the print job. An engine rating only measures the printer's maximum possible throughput. This maximum throughput will typically be attained only under ideal conditions and does not represent the printer's throughput under many working conditions. Most printers, for example, will only produce output at the maximum throughput for print jobs consisting of text and at most some simple graphics. To print complex graphics, significant pre-processing of the output is typically necessary. Such pre-processing can increase the click to clunk time by introducing a delay before the output of each page.
After the user requests a print job, the application program spools print data to the operating system. Typically, processing is blocked during spooling, preventing the user from using the application program. Spooling time is therefore a component of the total waiting time experienced by the user and of the click to clunk time.
After spooling is complete, printer driver or other software processes the print data before transmitting it to the destination printer. Typically, print data is not transmitted to the printer until this processing is complete. Printer driver processing time is therefore a component of the click to clunk time.